Thousands of barrels of accumulated oil are expected to be removed from the Ellwood oil and gas processing facility in Goleta starting in December.
Beginning Dec. 1 and continuing through Dec. 11, it’s anticipated that two trucks each day will remove oil from the Ellwood Onshore Facility on Hollister Avenue between the facility and the onramp to northbound Highway 101.
The California State Lands Commission has processed limited amounts of gas and oil from Platform Holly, located offshore from Goleta, that is coming up from between casing strings (steel pipes in the wells) to manage pressure within the well, according to a statement by the commission.
The EOF oil trucking was originally planned to start as early as last week.
“We are doing prep work at the moment and want to be respectful of the Thanksgiving holiday,” Sheri Pemberton, the commission’s chief external affairs and legislative liaison, told Noozhawk via email on Tuesday.
One truck will leave early in the morning and one in the afternoon, Pemberton said. The trucks most likely will travel Monday through Friday.
The limited stream of oil will continue until the wells on Platform Holly have been completely plugged and abandoned. The gas and oil are treated at the EOF to remove the toxic hydrogen sulfide from the gas stream and oil, according to the commission.
The commission expects transporting about 3,000 barrels of oil from the tank vessels and has entered into an agreement with Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery in Arroyo Grande to take the oil by truck to its facilities.
“Although the amount of oil processed as a result of this routine pressure management is minimal, over the past several years it has accumulated and been stored in tank vessels at the EOF, and those vessels are nearing capacity,” the commission’s statement said.
For questions or comments about the Ellwood Onshore Facility oil trucking, contact Pemberton at 916.477.0691 or sheri.pemberton@slc.ca.gov.
“The commission thanks you for your continued support of our decommissioning of the Venoco facilities and appreciates your patience while we work to protect the community and the environment during this process,” the statement said.
Constructed in the 1960s by ARCO and acquired by Venoco Inc. in 1997, the EOF processes oil and gas extracted from Platform Holly in the Santa Barbara Channel about two miles off the coast west of Goleta.
Productions at Platform Holly stopped after the May 2015 rupture of an oil pipeline near Refugio State Beach on the Gaviota Coast. The pipeline was operated by Plains All-American Pipeline, and Venoco later sued for lost profits in 2016.
The Denver, Colo.-based oil and gas producer Venoco quitclaimed its leases in the channel in 2017, effectively transferring operational control to the State of California.
Plugging and abandoning on Platform Holly’s 30 oil and gas wells began in 2019 after Venoco quitclaimed its interest in the South Ellwood Field leases, including Platform Holly and the Ellwood Beach pier leases near Goleta, according to the commission.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
